Sephardic Heritage Foundation was founded in 1972 by Mr. Sam Catton a"h..

The most impactful projects usually start from a specific need and Sephardic Heritage Foundation is no different. Sephardic Heritage Foundation was born during the High Holidays in the early 1970's when Mr. Sam Catton a"h was praying in Shaare Zion Congregation, the main synagogue for Syrian Jewry outside of Syria.  It was at that moment that he realized that the prayers were not as unified or cohesive as they could be or should be. There were several different prayer books being used by the Congregants and as a result people were confused as to what was being prayed and when. Mr. Catton realized that our Community needed a unified set of prayer books so that our prayers can elevate to the Almighty with one voice. Mr. Catton recruited Ezekiel Albeg to help him with this project and a short while later the Shelom Yerushalayim mahzorim for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were born. When interviewed later in life, Mr. Catton proudly exclaimed that the proudest and most fulfilled moment of his long and well accomplished life was the first Rosh Hashanah when he looked up from his seat in Shaare Zion and saw the entire kahal praying as one nation and with one voice to the Almighty on the holiest day of the year with every single person holding his brand new Shelom Yerushalayim mahzor for Rosh Hashanah.

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This success fueled the next 35 years of growth for Sephardic Heritage Foundation with Mr. Sam Catton as it's leader and inspiration.